Bright light/blind sensation at night

I've been having recent problems with my eyes at night. It seems to happen during the darkest part of the night while I'm asleep. When I occasionally wake at night I sometimes instantly wake and feel that I can't see out of my right eye (everything seems as though there is no sight for an instant), although by the time I've jumped up in bed and looked at the alarm clock, I realize I can see. But then I find that I get a large dark circular splodge wherever I look around the room, and shortly after I get a really bright elongated star which appears in my vision and then slowly dims. This had been happening very occasionally (a couple of times a year), but over the past month it's been happening a few times a week, and seems to be getting worse. I've even been dreaming that someone is shining a bright light in my eye, and my dream has woke me up and I've had the 'brightest'/blindness symptom.
I've had my eyes tested last month and everything is fine. I had a digital photo taken of the back of my eye and everything looks healthy. Been to see the ophthalmologist and all ok. I had blood work done last week (glucose/circulatory tests/choloesterol).
I was diagnosed with possible central serous choroidopathy about two years ago. However, I do get very stressed. Could this be anything to do with it? I don't have any eye problems during the day. This only occurs at night

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

As a very general thought, it something only occurs at night while you are sleeping and never in the day while you are away and you had a totally normal eye exam, then that should be quite a relief to you. Serious problems are usually very persistant and difficult to control.  Hopefully it is just something to do with afterimages, or decreased circulation while sleeping or something that cannot be completely explained.  My suspicion is that there is some reduced retinal circulation for some reason while you are deep asleep but I have no idea idea if that could  in any way be harmful in the short or long term.  Perhaps a second opinion with another ophthalmologist might be useful as well as a good vitamin supplement and an exercise regimen to improve circulation.

MJK MD

[Sandy Feldman, MD, MS]

Dear lovemyeyes,

I would recommend that you seek the care of an eyeMD specializing in neuro-ophthalmology if you are still having issues.  Depending on your history, age, prior medical problems, and timecourse of the episodes, migraines might be an issue too.

Dr. Feldman

Sandy T. Feldman, M.D., M.S.
ClearView Eye and Laser Medical Center
San Diego, California